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About Me

I've been journeying on the martial path since 1986 when I started Kodokan Judo in a college class. I've been studying budo ever since. In 1990 I moved to Japan where I continued to study Judo, and added Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, Shinto Muso Ryu, and Shinto Hatakage Ryu. I haven't practiced Eishin Ryu much in recent years, preferring to focus on Shinto Hatakage Ryu. Since 1999 I've lived in the US, but I still make frequent trips to Japan.

I spend a lot of time writing about the more philosophical aspects of budo, but there is a concrete area that I believe is close to univers...

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I fear I'm getting old. I went to judo last night, and was disappointed that all we did were techniques and randori, but no kata practice. Lately I find kata practice more interesting even than randori. Randori is still fun, but I'm getting a lot more out of the careful exploration of attack and counter-attack, spacing and defense that make up the kata in Kodokan Judo. It may just be me, but I find that when I do a lot of randori, I have fun, but I don't progress. When I do kata, whether they are the official kata of Kodokan Judo, or unofficial kata presented as training exercises, I learn something and my judo grows.

Lately I've been working on Nage No Kata and the Kodokan Goshinjutsu. Both are fun, and both teach me something about working at various distances that I can't get from randori. It's especially good when my partner progresses to the level of being able to really attack. Then I have to stretch my skills to keep up with the strength and speed that he can put into the kata.

It's in the kata that I can see and really feel the sense of yawara and the seiryoku zenyo. Too often in randori I find myself substituting muscle for technique. In the kata I feel more like I am focused on the essence of Judo.